Filmak* (for Filmmak*)

This typo turns up an amazing 898 times in OhioLINK today. Undoubtedly, some of these are correctly spelled foreign words or trade names, while others are misspellings on the piece itself. Filmmaker and its ilk are very commonly misspelled words, in which one M is mistakenly substituted for the two M's the words actually should contain. German filmmaker Fritz Lang is largely known for Metropolis, the most expensive silent feature ever made at the time of its release, and the thriller M, which was his first sound movie and the one he considered his best. Although Lang denied the connection, M was thought to be based upon the case of Peter Kürten, the "Vampire of Düsseldorf." According to Wikipedia: "A police psychiatrist in the film cites serial killers Fritz Haarmann and Karl Grossmann as examples of how such criminals can conceal themselves in everyday society." Double letters are not concealed in those two surnames and in fact show up in a great many German and English words. Don't let the two M's in filmmaker and its relatives get away from you; you're sure to catch a least of few of them in your own catalog. Although in the case of transcribed fields, you'll probably have to do some additional investigative work.

(Fritz Lang and his wife Thea von Harbou in their Berlin apartment, 1923 or 1924, from Wikimedia Commons.)

Carol Reid

Lanuga* (for Language*)

With 22 hits in OhioLINK on Lanuga*, this typo for language* shows up in the B or "high probability" section of the Ballard list. It turns out that lanuga actually is a word in Esperanto, meaning "covered with fine hairs or fluffy." Esperanto was conceived in the late 19th century by Dr. Ludociv Lazarus Zamenhof, a Jewish ophthalmologist from Bialystok, Russia, and was created to help promote global harmony and understanding. It is currently spoken by an estimated two million people worldwide, although at one time speakers of the language were persecuted by both Hitler and Stalin. Surprisingly enough, none of the typos we found were for Laguna Beach in southern California, another locus of love and peace, and former haven for those who like it long, straight, curly, fuzzy ... hair!

(Picture of baby Ginger Monkey, all orange and lanuga and looking as if it might start speaking Esperanto any minute, taken by "Rob" in Cambridge, Massachusetts, from Wikimedia Commons.)

Carol Reid

Belguim (for Belgium)

On this day in 1945, the Charter of the United Nations was signed by 50 of the 51 original member states (Poland’s representative signed it later).

Belgium was one of the original signing members of the UN. Making a spelling error such as “Belguim” (a high probability typo on the Ballard list) on a document as important as this one would be most embarrassing—fortunately, this didn’t happen.

Perhaps legitimately embarrassing for Belgium was its inclusion in Life, the Universe, and Everything, the third book in Douglas Adams’ Hitch-hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy series. The U.S. edition of the book was censored, with swear words replaced by such terms as “kneebiter” and “swut”. “Belgium” was also used as a substitute word, and it was described as the most offensive word in the galaxy.

Pictured are tulips in Brussels, photo taken from http://www.travelphotoguide.com/

Leanne Olson

Lizst (for Liszt)

The boatman in his small craft
Is seized with longings, and sighs.
He sees not the rocks fore and aft;
He looks only up towards the skies.

I fear that the waves shall be flinging
Both vessel and man to their end;
That must have been what with her singing
The Lorelei did intend.

- translation of verses from Heine's Die Lorelei,
set to music by Franz Liszt

Franz Liszt (1811-1886) was a Hungarian composer, pianist, and educator, one of the leaders of the Romantic movement. He also had a rather difficult name to spell: the typo Lizst occurs over a hundred times in Worldcat.

Liszt was known for his piano works and his virtuosity at the instrument, but his song compositions should not be overlooked. He paid strong attention to interpreting the words of the poems and the emotion therein.

According to Grove Music Online, he wrote notes throughout his manuscripts with instructions to the singer such as “‘fast gesprochen’ (almost spoken), ‘mit halber Stimme’ (with a half-voice), ‘geheimnisvoll’ (mysterious), ‘phlegmatisch’ (dull or heavy) and ‘hintraumend’ (day-dreaming).”

(image of Liszt from pianoparadise.com)

Leanne Olson

Pheonix (for Phoenix)

In both Eastern and Western mythology, the phoenix is a rare flaming or glowing bird, representing the sun and symbolizing new beginnings.

In Greece and Egypt, it embodied immortality, often tied to the sun god (Helios or Ra). Just as the sun moves across the sky, disappears and is reborn the next morning, the phoenix dies in fire and is regenerated from its own ashes.

The phoenix has no mate and one of these creatures can only be born from the death of the previous one. In some Renaissance writing, the phoenix was considered a delicacy—since only one is alive at a time in the entire world, dining on phoenix is the rarest of possible meals.

While the phoenix may be a lonely bird, the typo pheonix has plenty of company. Pheonix is a high probability error on the Ballard list, occurring 12 times in OhioLINK and over 300 in Worldcat. It can occur in any number of places in the catalogue, as a location of a conference or publication, an author or actor’s name, a spacecraft, a publishing company, part of a title, or even a comic book character.

(Phoenix painting from http://kalaalog.com/)

Leanne Olson

Helsinski (for Helsinki)

This typo for the capital city of Finland, Helsinki, is a high probability error on the Ballard List, and there are over 450 occurrences of Helsinski in Worldcat!

It’s not unfitting that Helsinki is a frequently misspelled name, since the city actually has its own slang which does not conform to normal Finnish spelling and grammar rules.

This slangi is a mishmash of colloquial Finnish and words borrowed from other languages: English, Swedish, German and Russian.

Slangi is characterized by a very quick speech, shortened or diminutive forms of words, voiced consonants not commonly used in Finnish, such as d, and a breaking of the rules of vowel harmony.

Often, an extra S is added to the beginning of words in slangi—this would not, however, justify that extra S near the end of our typo Helsinkski!

Pictured above is the Helsinki Cathedral, a major landmark in the city.

(Photograph from http://taivasalla.net)

Leanne Olson

Lenon, Lennen, or Lenonn (for Lennon)

There's room at the top they are telling you still

But first you must learn how to smile as you kill
If you want to be like the folks on the hill
A working class hero is something to be

-from "Working Class Hero" by John Lennon

On this day, June 22, in 1981 while on trial for the murder of John Lennon, Mark David Chapman dropped the insanity defense and changed his plea to guilty, citing a conversation with God as his reason.

Lennon was famous for his work with the Beatles, but in his short life he also made marks with his solo music and political protests.

His solo recordings were experimental, such as the noise collages on his Unfinished Music albums. The often harsh, confessional pieces on the album John Lennon/ Plastic Ono Band were influenced by Lennon’s foray into primal scream therapy.

The song "Working Class Hero" made waves for its unforgiving language. Some radio stations banned the song because of the F-word, while other station managers defended it, facing penalties including fines of up to $10,000.

Try not to misspell Lennon’s name, lest you accidentally censor him in your own catalogue!

(Photograph from Allmusic.com)

Leanne Olson